The 'Cousins'

Chapter 101 (alpha) : Discord in the Camp

Chapter One Hundred and One (alpha)

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to @WilsonGill. Recent chapters in this story have been heavyweight with details of energy recapture and environmental issues that are deserving for implementation in our real societies. @WilsonGill passed a comment expressing his wishes for the story to spend more time on the seamier side of Bamptonville. Harold, this is for you!

Discord in the Camp.

"No Felix! I ain't doin' it. You cain't ask me to do that. It's askin' too much. I cain't. I told you a hundred times already never, never fix me again with that ... that goddamn bear. He ain't human. You promised me you wouldn't. Why'd you go and fix me with him? ... I won't do it."

Felix heard Kyler's outraged protests with amused disdain. They were uncharacteristic of the usually over-confident boy, his evident deep, underlying wretchedness gave the man a sadistic burst of pleasure. The youth flopped heavily on the motel room bed, his body language confirming the depth of his misery; hiding his face by holding his head low between his knees and wringing his hands.

Felix sat at the side table facing the bed in No 5 chalet at Gran Grindlay's motel; picking his teeth with his legs crossed casually whilst enjoying the spectacle of Kyler's distress. This didn't happen often, and making the boy squirm was ample payback to Felix for the boy's earlier sassy remarks as much as it was essential for the business in hand. The man breathed deeply, basking in the power he held over Kyler. The youth's cringing, pleading and weeping brought on escalating waves of excitement in Gleitner which showed in his highly pitched voice as he continued to torment the boy, rejecting the youth's pleas and adding to Kyler's suffering.

"Promises! What promises? The only promises I made to you my pretty boy was to bring in business that puts cash in yer pocket, a car in the yard an' gas to put in it. Thought you could do it all yer own way did you, asshole? Thought you could spread stoopid rumors about Mitchell helpin' out at a kids Summer camp without checkin' with me first; rumors that could land us in jail? Next you thought because of Jess's bad leg you could ignore my orders an' go soft on him? Dumb peter puffer. Let this be a lesson to you."

Felix raised his voice to a near shout. "Now get outta here an' go pick up your client fer the night. He's waitin' on you at the Truck Stop. Go do the business like yer hired and paid to do. Make sure you give him a good time ... an' don't forget to bring yer toothbrush."

"But you promised me Felix ... after last time. You said you'd never put me with him again. You promised." The boy's usually firm and confident voice came across between sniffles as a childish wail. Kyler couldn't bring himself to look into the set of Felix' face, and remained sat on the bed with his face lowered to gaze at the dirt ingrained floorboards.

Felix laughed before making his reply, a harsh, guttural sound, asserting his superiority over the youth.

"Get real asshole! Mickey Stovic brings us in a lot of business from the Roadways crews. He deserves the best from us in return. Cain't you get it through your head you dumb stoopid faggot – this is work, an' its work that pays the bills. You want an apartment in Lincoln when you go to college? Well this is how you get it."

Felix moved swiftly to stand over Kyler, his face reddened by anger, fixed in a mask of contempt. He swiped Kyler around the head, heavy enough to push him flat on the bed and stood over the cowed youth, shouting at him in a shower of spittle. "It's work that pays rents an' buys cars, fancy clothes an' all those goodies you get. I s'pose you thought I growed 'em on the trees outside the trailer at Plaisance. What a dummie." Felix lowered his head next to Kyler's and bawled in the youth's ear. "It's work that pays fer it all. This sort of work. The kinda work we do, so get real and get at it. Do you get it now?"